Large turnout for new San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s inauguration night celebrations in Chinatown.
He thanks the Asian and AAPI communities for their support. San Franciscans, even one that said she didn’t vote for him, say they are excited and optimistic that he may bring change.

The celebration of San Francisco’s new mayor isn’t over yet.

San Francisco’s Chinatown hosted a community banquet, a special night market and community-led celebration for new mayor Daniel Lurie on Wednesday night.

There will be live performances, an opportunity to showcase artists and Chinatown restaurants and small businesses said they’re ready for it.

Some of the people who spoke to NBC Bay Area on Wednesday said that clear Lurie is bringing a lot of hope for change to those in this community. A section of Grant Avenue was transformed to host a special night market in celebration of San Francisco’s new leadership.

Lurie made the rounds on Wednesday morning before being sworn in as the city’s 46th mayor and touted the event.

“We’re going to have some celebrations in Chinatown tonight,” he said.

Tane Chan of the Wok Shop said that she thinks the new mayor’s decision to put Chinatown in the spotlight could have a lasting impact.

“We have had some tough times and with mayor Lurie here encouraging all the visitors and all the residents to come and walk through Chinatown and just give us boost,” she said.

Mark Young, co-chair of the unity celebration banquet, said that people can feel the buzz in Chinatown.

“There is going to be 18 vendors a local headliner DJ, his name is Zhu,” he said. “There is going to be cultural festivities as well as this banquet that we have going on which is going to have over 900 guests from the AAPI community.”

The night market celebration is cohosted by the inaugural committee and the non-profit group ” Be Chinatown.”

Jayde Wong with Lion Dance Me said they’re bringing about 75 high school students out to perform at Wednesday night’s event.

“We’re bringing out all red lions tonight and red is the symbol of good fortune and so we’re some hoping to bring some good fortune to Daniel Lurie during his term as mayor and hopefully he will bring some good fortune back to our community as well,” she said.

The night market runs until 9:30 p.m. Wednesday.

After breakfast, Lurie walked through the Tenderloin with San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott.

“People in the Tenderloin are frustrated,” Lurie told KQED. “People in Bernal Heights are frustrated, so I’m going to commit myself every single day to be tireless in getting people the help that they need, whether it’s into a mental health bed or a drug treatment bed or into a shelter bed.”

It wasn’t Lurie’s first time walking through the Tenderloin, according to Kate Robinson, director of the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. She said he joined her team on multiple morning shifts to ensure kids got to school safely.

“Incoming Mayor Lurie was the very first to request to come back and then come back again,” Robinson said. “That set him apart just for me, personally, seeing the level of care and seeing how genuinely interested he was in talking to the residents, talking to our safety stewards.

“I’m optimistic.”

Scott said the new administration has a lot of ideas and energy, but San Francisco residents will expect the city to move forward.

“When all the ceremony and all that goes away, we still have a job to do, so it’s really important that we stay focused on getting that job done, and that’s where my focus is,” Scott said. “Of course, I’m gonna do the things that the mayor has asked for us to do and do that to the best of my ability.”

Darrell Luckett, who’s lived in the Tenderloin for 40 years, stopped Lurie and urged him to follow through on his promises to clean up encampments and drug use.

“He said he’s gonna do it. All we can do is kick back, and you see what he do,” Luckett said after shaking hands with the mayor.

“A lot of people always say they’re gonna do this stuff,” Deonte Dial added.